Twitter ran its first TV advertising campaign over the weekend to drive home to brands the social network’s marketing potential.

A series of 15-second ads ran during coverage of a Nascar race in the US that sought to promote the business benefits of using hashtags – keywords in a tweet preceded by the # symbol.

The ads were also aimed at making firms more aware of how they can use hashtag pages to provide consumers with extra information about products or campaigns, as well as additional content, such as photos and videos.

Each of the ads ended with Twitter.com/#nascar to showcase the hashtag pages, where viewers could find content posted by Nascar drivers and their families, crews, commentators, celebrities and fans in a single timeline.

These branded pages mirror much more closely Facebook’s brand pages, and are a step forward for Twitter from a marketing perspective as they can include a great deal more content than 140 characters has previously allowed.

In a blog post previewing the Nascar activity, Twitter executive Omid Ashtari was keen to highlight how Twitter can be used by brands to deepen engagement.

“Teams will update you with information about how their car is performing in the race and what their strategy will be when they come into pit road, he explained.

“You’ll also see photos from the pit and read what the drivers and spotters are saying in the heat of the moment.”